Frost

save me (i need your love before I fall)

He's on his second shift, taking the last of rush hour orders, when the call comes. Glancing at the flashing screen, he feels dread creeping up on him, turning his blood cold. The frost returns, and suddenly he's a little kid again, shivering and alone, watching the snowflakes fall, covering his skin one by one in a shiny, icy layer.

"Sorry." He bows to his manager. "I gotta take this." Something on his face must show his desperation, because he's let off without a word, the older worker stepping in for him at the register.

The familiar brick of the back alley feels colder against his back than before. "Eomma?"

"Don't eomma me. Where's the money?" Her voice is just as cold as the icy fingers clawing at his chest, tearing him up inside. "Or did you think just because today's your birthday, I'd let you off?"

"No, I–"

"Where's the money, Daniel?"

"Don't call me that–"

"I named you, I'll call you whatever the fuck I want. Where's the money?"

"I'll transfer it now, eomma–"

"Double it."

"But–"

"Don't tell me you don't have it. Double it. I know you can pay."

The line's dead again before he could answer, and he sinks down to the ground helplessly. He didn't have the money. He never did, never would, not in the amounts she was demanding. But her drug addiction had eaten away at her brain, until the kind woman who rocked him to sleep was gone, and all that was left was this monster, calling him to demand money, again and again.

The loan sharks were ruthless enough once. He didn't want to know what they'd do if he failed to pay again. Couldn't bring himself to let her suffer through all that again.

And so with shaking fingers, he emptied his entire bank account into hers, knowing he was still a few hundred won short of what she asked.

As he stumbled back into the cafe, shivering, his finger hovered over Kai's contact in his phone. He swore he'd never call him when he was like this, wouldn't leech off his warmth, but his vision blurred now as he lost feeling in his limbs slowly.

"Summer boy!" The ahjumma working the back stood quickly as he stumbled into the break room. "Oh, god."

She helped him sit. "Here, here, drink something warm."

He gulped down the steaming cup without so much as feeling the burn.

"You should take today off." She suggested. "You don't look well. And it's your birthday."

He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. "I need to work." He declared stubbornly. "I need to work." Or she'll really find me.

"You also need to rest." Her work-worn hands brushed his hair back from his eyes. "Call that sunshine boy of yours." She advised him.

"No!"

"Yeonjunie... hun, you don't look well. Call him, or I will." She held his phone in her hand.

"I.." Yeonjun sighed. "I'll call him." The mere idea of seeing him again lifted his mood, and the ice in his chest began to thaw slowly.

"Good." The ahjumma smiled kindly. "Bring him here. I want to see the boy who makes everything all right again."

Kai was heading home from class when he found him, and as soon as those wide eyes were on him again, Yeonjun could feel like he could breathe again.

"Hey. You free this evening?"

Am I ever not? Kai's hands traced out the words teasingly, and Yeonjun was overwhelmed with how easy it was to be around him. How his smiles needed no summoning, rather they threatened to split his face in half at all times, and his heart beat faster, hands itching to hold the younger boy close.

He didn't say anything for some time, just looking at him, Kai's hands in his. And Kai was happy to stare back, joy in his eyes at meeting him tonight.

"It's my birthday." He said quietly. "September 13th."

Kai's eyes lit up. Happy birthday! He signed, hands leaving Yeonjun's. He already missed them.

"No, not yet." Yeonjun whispered.

Confused, the younger boy tilted his head to the side in question, looking too awfully cute for someone who had just finished a 4 hour lecture class.

But Yeonjun merely shook his head, motioning for Kai to follow him. There were no words that could possibly describe the feeling in his heart, the tune playing in his head, the sparks spreading through him as Kai took his hand again.

The cafe was just as busy as it had been when he left it, but the ahjumma was evidently waiting for them. Of course she was. "Summer boy!" She called out, delighted. "When are you going to introduce your boy to me?"

Yeonjun slung his arm over Kai's shoulder, hoping it came off as casual rather than protective. He didn't want Kai leaving his side, not for a second.

"This is Kai." Yeonjun introduced, daring her to say a word. She took the hint, shoving every embarrassing story she had of him to the back of her mind. Instead, she gently took Kai's hand between hers, practically shining as she spoke.

"Nice to finally meet you, darling. You're a special one."

Kai bowed back, polite, but there was a happy smile on his face, too. Yeonjun found himself grinning in response, like a lightbulb lit up by his boy's happiness.

His.

He led them over to his favorite corner booth. "Have you been here before?"

No.

Perfect. "There. Now whenever you come here, you'll think of me." It was possessive, and selfish, to want Kai to see him everywhere, think about him all the time, but Yeonjun was past caring.

Especially when Kai just rolled his eyes, and wrapped his hands around the warm cup of tea that the ahjumma had brought them. His light mood transformed Yeonjun's evening, until everything was as warm as if it were still summer.

As they walked home that night, Yeonjun hummed a song, swinging their clasped hands together. "It is now." He decided.

What?

"A happy birthday." For the first time in a long time, it really was.

Kai hit his shoulder as Yeonjun burst into helpless laughter. Hyung! That's so cheesy!

But he, too, was grinning, his sunshine.

Yeonjun pulled him closer, hand around his shoulder again as he walked Kai home. He definitely was doing it for the safety of being out so late at night, and because his own dorm was nearby, and not because he knew Kai like the back of his hand.

Definitely not because he knew Kai would pull him into the apartment he shared with Soobin, bright eyes begging for him to stay. Definitely not because he could spoon the younger all night, holding him close, and sleep dreamlessly.

And of course, it wasn't because he planned on using fatigue as an excuse to pepper Kai with gentle kisses until they both drifted off to sleep.